COSTA RICA BLACK SAND

BLACK SAND BEACH, COSTA RICA

VOLCANOS

The composition of a beach depends on its location. Most of the beaches throughout the world are ground up brown colored quartz, but the white sands of tropical beaches are actually calcium carbonate which comes from shells and skeletons of marine life and coral reefs. Black sand which is mostly found in Costa Rica’s southern Pacific coast comes from volcanos and is actually volcanic glass that has been ground up by the waves.

 

ARENAL VOLCANO, CR

Costa Rica is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire where much of the active volcanos in the world are located. Currently Costa Rica has five active volcanos and over 100 dormant. They are found in the northern and central highlands of Costa Rica and they are all popular tourist destinations..

Here at the Fiesta Resort in Puntarenas the beach is wide and the sand very fine and its color is black.to gray. It doesn’t have the shiny pure volcanic glass of beaches in say Punalu’u or Kalapana, where recent Kilauea eruptions have added to the girth of the Big Island. Nonetheless it is striking. Across the bay is the rocky horizon of the Nicoya Peninsula where the sand from there is washed ashore in Puntarenas to give it this unique color. In the surf the water looks murky as the fine, soft sand is swirled about,   

BEACH AT FIESTA RESORT, CR